by Rachel Allison
In September Priscilla Coleman was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry showing an association between induced abortion and mental health problems.
Overall, women with an abortion history experience an 81% increased risk for mental health problems. The results showed that the level of increased risk associated with abortion varies from 34% to 230% depending on the nature of the outcome. Separate effects were calculated based on the type of mental health outcome with the results revealing the following: the increased risk for anxiety disorders was 34%; for depression it was 37%; for alcohol use/abuse it was 110%, for marijuana use/abuse it was 220%, and for suicide behaviors it was 155%.
When compared to unintended pregnancy delivered, women who terminated had a 55% increased risk of experiencing any mental health problem.
Finally, nearly 10% of the incidence of all mental health problems was shown to be directly attributable to abortion.
There are women all over the world who, having aborted their children, recognize the emotional and mental impact it has had on their lives. To their credit, many have publically spoken out including at UN conferences. Several years ago, I met one such group of women. Seven articulate women with a message that they were passionate about traveled to NYC to join hands in protest of the worldwide abortion agenda that was robbing the unborn of their right to life. Each one of these women took their turn telling about the helplessness they felt when they discovered they were pregnant, and the mental anguish they experienced as the decision was made to terminate their pregnancy. Each and every one of them expressed their disbelief at the flippant demeanor the nurses and doctors had while they were being prepared for the “procedure.” Each one refused to believe they were destroying a life…but afterward, they knew the reality of what they had allowed to happen…and it has haunted them every day of their lives since. To their credit they were speaking out so that others do not feel their loss and anguish.
I had a doctor acquaintance who told me of an experience he had as a medical student. He was watching an abortion take place. The doctor performing the abortion was callous and unfeeling. The woman on the table was in total denial, talking freely, even laughing at times until she became sedated. Immediately following the abortion, as she was becoming coherent, she began to sob uncontrollably. At that point she knew what she had allowed to happen…this young medical student was powerless to help her pain.
There are many I’m sure that will dispute the findings of Ms Coleman’s study. They will say, “Women are not damaged. They make a choice, and they do just fine with their decision to terminate the life growing within them.”
The scientific findings may or may not be accurate but my heart goes out to those women who are damaged. If Ms Coleman’s data is incorrect, our hearts should mourn for a society where women are not affected by such a gut-wrenching decision.